Watching Ellen Burstyn refuse to get off a couch will have you glued to your couch in the well-polished oddity Mother Couch, the uncommon feature debut of writer/director Niclas Larsson.
David (Ewan McGregor) is at a used furniture warehouse, shopping for a dresser with his mother (Ellen Burstyn) and brother Gruffudd (Rhys Ifans). While Gruffudd, who is married, flirts with the floor saleswoman Bella (Taylor Russell), David’s mother, informs him that she isn’t going to get up off the couch she just sat down on. David pleads with her, but his mother won’t budge. David threatens to drag her off of it, to which Mother replies that she will thrash around until she falls and splits her skull open.
“…David’s mother…informs him that she isn’t going to get up off the couch…”
David’s wife Anne (Lake Bell) is pissed because she is waiting for him at their daughter Bree’s (Penelope Young) birthday party. Panicking, their sister Linda (Lara Flynn Boyle) is called to come to the store to get Mother off the sofa. Linda wants to know why 911 hasn’t been called yet. Bella tells them that it would be fine if their mother spent the night, as that is something that has happened before at the store, as customers want to try out the purchase before buying.
The store, Oakbeds Furniture, is owned by her father (F. Murray Abraham), so she is sure it would be fine. David also agrees to spend the night to keep an eye on Mother. This isn’t helping the strain on his marriage, nor does it address all the pain that Mother has been spreading to all her children for such a long time…
"…a plush cinematic experience worth sinking into."
